The Best Christmas Decorations in Chicagoland: Your Guide to More Than 200 Spectacular Holiday Displays [Paperback]

Mary Edsey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 21, 2008

The holiday spirit is alive and well in America’s heartland--and nowhere does it shine so brightly as in Chicago.  This delightful book takes readers on a thoroughly entertaining tour of Chicagoland in all its Christmas finery.  From the storytelling windows at Marshall Field’s (now Macy’s), drawing admirers from hundreds of miles away, to the most elaborate light show in a neighborhood cul-de-sac, The Best Christmas Decorations in Chicagoland guides you to more than 200 of the finest annual holiday displays in the greater Chicago area. 

 

In this fully updated and expanded edition of her 1995 bestseller, Mary Edsey shares humorous stories about decorators, decorating tips and trends, and historical trivia.  The book, which features 200 dazzling color photographs of Chicagoland’s “best and brightest,” covers the city proper as well as the surrounding counties--residential, business, and municipal efforts--and includes maps, detailed directions, and display hours.  Whether as a guide to the holiday sights in Chicago or a Christmas feast for the eyes, this is a book that perfectly captures the season’s irrepressible spirit.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This volume of winter wonderland of color and light offers a festive tour of downtown Chicago and the surrounding counties. Author Edsey, a Chicago native who has for 10 years hosted holiday bus tours around that city, puts her hometown savvy to excellent use: photos of displays are accompanied by stories about the people who create them, viewing hours, directions and maps. Edsey also provides a history of outdoor holiday decorations, noting that Americans' endeavors echo those of the ancient Romans, who festooned their homes to celebrate the new year. Edsey's visual tour of holiday-themed Chicagoland visits well-known landmarks like Navy Pier and the Art Institute of Chicago, plus neighborhoods like the one that's home to Candy Cane Lane, where, from the mid-1950s to the early 1970s, a parade of 10-foot candy canes stood in residents' front lawns. Readers inspired to create or augment their own display will appreciate the book's many tips—for example, how to disguise floodlights as giant presents—and its appendix of suppliers. (Nov.)
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Review

This volume of winter wonderland of color and light offers a festive tour of downtown Chicago and the surrounding counties. Author Edsey, a Chicago native who has for 10 years hosted holiday bus tours around that city, puts her hometown savvy to excellent use: photos of displays are accompanied by stories about the people who create them, viewing hours, directions and maps. Edsey also provides a history of outdoor holiday decorations, noting that Americans' endeavors echo those of the ancient Romans, who festooned their homes to celebrate the new year. Edsey's visual tour of holiday-themed Chicagoland visits well-known landmarks like Navy Pier and the Art Institute of Chicago, plus neighborhoods like the one that's home to Candy Cane Lane, where, from the mid-1950s to the early 1970s, a parade of 10-foot candy canes stood in residents' front lawns. Readers inspired to create or augment their own display will appreciate the book's many tips—for example, how to disguise floodlights as giant presents—and its appendix of suppliers. Publisher’s Weekly, November 3, 2008

 “This is the second edition of a guide to the most fabulous Christmas decorations in the Chicago area, including Cook and its adjacent counties. The downtown area includes many sites familiar to Chicago natives and visitors alike, but the neighborhoods really shine with private homes that are decorated in ways that defy belief, like the house in Lincolnwood with a tree that not only fills the house, but pokes out through the roof. A must for every library in Northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin.” -- Libraryjournal.com, December 2, 2008

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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Voyageur Press; 2 edition (October 21, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0760332290
• ISBN-13: 978-0760332290
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #967,919 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Christmas Decorations in Chicagoland, February 10, 2010

By 

M. Biskus (Gurnee, IL) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Best Christmas Decorations in Chicagoland: Your Guide to More Than 200 Spectacular Holiday Displays (Paperback)

I had a previous version of this book and really enjoyed it. This one has many more from the suburbs. Nice.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Nice, February 6, 2010

By 

William H. Oerke (Aberdeen NC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Best Christmas Decorations in Chicagoland: Your Guide to More Than 200 Spectacular Holiday Displays (Paperback)

This is the second book that I have bought, it was a very nice book on where to find Christmas Decorations in the Chicagoland area. It brought back a lot of memeories, I wish I could be back in Chicago to take a few car trips. Maybe next year we will have to go back at Christmas time.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Christmas Coffee Table Book in Chicagoland, October 28, 2009

By 

Twinkletoes (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Best Christmas Decorations in Chicagoland: Your Guide to More Than 200 Spectacular Holiday Displays (Paperback)

I think this book is a wonderful artistic achievement. The stories are imaginatively written and very entertaining, the photographs are beautiful, and the layout of the book is very interesting. This book will grace my coffee table during Christmas for years to come.